"According to IHH official Omer Yagmur, who spoke to the doctors, 19-year-old Furkan Dogan was killed by four bullets to the head — all fired at close range — and one bullet into his chest, also fired at close range.

/../

"The Mavi Marmara was bombed right in front of our eyes. They threw the wounded into the water" — Yücel Köse, 'Israel killed more than 9, threw wounded into sea, witnesses say’, Zaman Today (Turkey), 4 July 2010

As the true nature of the massacre on the Mavi Marmara becomes apparent now that witnesses can speak out, so too is the scale of the pre-planned propaganda blitz conducted by the Israelis, a blitz that was launched in tandem with the armed attack.

Clearly planned well in advance of the attack (right down to paintball guns)—and with the able assistance of the Western media—Israel has shown how reality can be manipulated; day turned into night, wrong into right, black into white.

Just how well the Western media covers for the actions of the rogue state of Israel can be seen by comparing the BBC report, also from Turkey, with the Zaman Today article quoted from above.

Titled 'Gaza activists receive enthusiastic welcome in Turkey’ the BBC article mentions none of the atrocities allegedly committed by Israeli commandos. Instead, we get one quote from British activist Sarah Colbourne who told the BBC:

"I couldn’t even count the amount of ships that were in the water. It was literally bristling with ships, helicopters and gunfire. It was horrific, absolutely horrific." (see the Guardian piece below for a comparison)

The BBC piece opens with the following:

"Turkish planes carrying hundreds of activists from the Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces have arrived in Istanbul from Israel.

"The activists returned to an enthusiastic welcome led by Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc.

"The bodies of nine people killed when Israeli commandos took control of the six aid vessels were also flown in.

"Earlier, PM Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had "no choice" but to storm the ships on Monday."

"Took control"? Even Netanyahu describes it as storming the ships but good ol’ Auntie Beeb has to downplay the atrocity even as the two descriptions sit side-by-side!

And once again the BBC article reveals what it’s concerns really are, protecting the interests of the Empire. In a sidebar we read:

"By holding them until now, Israel has only prolonged this public relations disaster." — 'AT THE SCENE’, By Jonathan Head, BBC News, Istanbul

As always, as far as the BBC is concerned the atrocity is no more than a PR problem and not only for the Israelis, as revealing the true nature of the attack also reveals the BBC’s craven use of Israeli propaganda.

"The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth becomes the greatest enemy of the State." – Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels, Nazi minister of propaganda

Quoting Netanyahu under the sub-head of 'Vicious mob’

"In Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu dismissed criticism of the raid as "international hypocrisy".

"He said the soldiers had been met by a "vicious mob" and had acted to defend themselves.

"He said it was Israel’s duty to prevent rockets and other weapons being smuggled into Gaza to Hamas by Iran and others.

"The flotilla, he argued, was not aiming to deliver humanitarian aid to Gazans but was trying to break the blockade.

""This was not a love boat, this was a boat of hate," Mr Netanyahu said." — 'Gaza activists receive enthusiastic welcome in Turkey’

The parallels with Nazi propaganda techniques are no accident as are the connections between Nazi Germany and the then nascent state of Israel. Connections that are well documented. Indeed, the unit that carried out the attacks on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Shayetet 13 owes its existence to Italian Fascists, in particular Fiorenzo Capriotti who was hired to form and train Shayetet 13.

"The fledgling Israeli state later turned to Italy to ask for help with military training, which the government was not willing to supply officially. The Italian government therefore got in touch with veterans of Mussolini’s short-lived Italian Social Republic (RSI): young men who had the technical skills required, but did not belong in the new political system.

"The veterans – including people like Capriotti who would have joined the RSI if they could have – had no qualms about helping the Zionists, with whom they shared a deep hostility towards the British.

/../

"In 1992, Fiorenzo Capriotti was appointed "honorary commander" of Shayetet 13 by Ami Ayalon, then commander of the Israeli navy, with a special mention of the "glorious" Decima Mas. Capriotti died last year, at the age of 99, a revered figure among Italian neo-Fascists, who would go in pilgrimage to visit him."[1]

There you have it. The BBC is complicit in spreading blatant lies about the tragic events of 31 May, 2010. In the words of Norman Finkelstein,

Israel is now a lunatic state. It’s a lunatic state with between 2 and 300 nuclear devices. It is threatening war daily against Iran, and against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah in Lebanon has all ready stated on several occasions that if Israel attacks it will retaliate in kind. Things are getting out of control. We have to ask ourselves a simple basic fundamental question. Can a lunatic state like Israel be trusted with 2 to 300 nuclear devices, when it is now threatening its neighbors Iran and Lebanon with an attack? These are serious issues!" — 'Israel is now a lunatic state’

The degree to which the BBC censors news and insists on pushing the Israeli line can be seen not only from the Zaman Today piece quoted from at the beginning, which contradicts BBC 'coverage’ on almost every account but also in yesterday’s Guardian (3/6/10) we have the testimony of the first English participant in the Freedom Flotilla to return home, Sarah Colborne.

"There was live ammunition flying around and I could hear the sounds of the bullets flying and the whirr of the helicopter blades as people were dropped down onto the roof. What I saw was guns being used by the Israelis on unarmed civilians. I saw a bullet wound in someone’s head. It was very clear it was live ammunition." — 'British survivor of Gaza flotilla raid: 'Israelis ignored SOS calls’, The Guardian, 3 June, 2010[2]

Surely the BBC is complicit in Israeli war crimes and should stand in the dock alongside those responsible for the Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre?

Note

1. See 'An Italian Fascist Founded the Unit which Attacked the Freedom Flotilla’ By Miguel Martínez

2. See the video: 'Sarah Colborne insists that troops fired live ammunition at activists’

See also, ''Mad dog’ diplomacy – A cornered Israel is baring its teeth’ By Jonathon Cook